Book review : The Fly Guy by Colum Sanson-Regan

My Thoughts:

***3.5 stars***

The Fly Guy is the debut novel of musician, actor and now, author Colum Sanson-Regan. He writes a sinister thriller that explores the creative process and questions how much control artists have over their creations.

Martin Tripp is a struggling writer who appears to strike gold when he creates Henry Bloomburg, a private investigator. Henry has solved a lot of unusual cases although one mystery still eludes him, the case of The Fly Guy… a deviant man who seems to slip through the streets unnoticed, appearing to shadow the dead.

Martin writes the interconnected stories of a drug dealer, a bodyguard, a private investigator and Lucy. When Martin finds himself getting stuck on their stories, he buries them. In real life he embraces change in the form of routine and a more conventional way of life. But when Martin spots someone he shouldn’t, someone he can’t possibly be seeing, the line between fantasy and reality is blurred. Martin finds that he can no longer control Henry’s timeline, his obsession with the Fly guy’s identity threatens everything that Martin has built.

Martin is initially like-able and relatable, but as the story progressed I became apprehensive. Where exactly does his inspiration come from? The story concludes in such a way that I had to draw some of my own conclusions. Is the mystery solved? How exactly are these lives connected? There are many unanswered questions which serve to add mystery to the story but perhaps an equally thrilling sequel would be appropriate to provide some closure. From a mind that is no stranger to creativity and science fiction, we are presented with the lives of multiple people from different worlds that intersect, bringing chaos to their creator. The Fly guy is a gripping novel that will keep you unsure till the end.